Can someone talk me through wine?

I'm really getting excited about the thought of making some wine. Can someone talk me through it? What all do I need to order and what do I need to do differently than making ale?

I'm interested in making a nice red. Something not too sweet and not too dry. I'm not into overly oaky reds with a lot of tannins, but I do like a mild oak flavor that doesn't hide the fruit. Suggestions?

I have been considering doing the wine thing myself. I'm working on procuring some of the specialty tools needed to get this off the ground. While sifting through threads on wine, I came across Walkers Wine thread which has been very helpful to me in garner an understanding about winemaking. This could be the walk thru you seek.

Head on over to Winepress.us most if not all questions have been asked and there are very helpful to the begining wine maker. http://www.winepress.us/forums/index.php?act=idx

if you're interested in grape wines, I think a kit might be the way to go. If you're interested in fruit wines, I'd suggest looking at jackkeller.net . Actually, Jack's tips are applicable to any type of wine. It talks about everything from sanitation to bottling. There's tons on there to read, so it might take you a while. The equipment is basically the same as making beer, so you might not have to buy anything except a hand corker, and a few chemicals.

One of the main differences is how to treat your must (wort). In ales, you keep it out of the air. In wine, you encourage air to get to it until your specific gravity reaches 1.020 or so, then you place it under airlock. The higher abv along with campden tablets protects it, I guess. I use a bucket for primary, covered with a dish towel to keep out fruit flies. Then I use a 5 gallon carboy with an airlock for secondary, racking as necessary. I love winemaking, but beer has more immediate gratification. Good luck!

Lorena

On a personal note, your avatar just put me on a diet.